A heavy, 14k gold presentation cane featuring a curved, hand-engraved handle and inlaid native gold-bearing quartz, mounted atop a polished rosewood shaft with steel ferrule. The engraving is in the post–Civil War San Francisco style, typical of the 1870s and preceding the aesthetic movement of the 1880s. The handle is inscribed on one side: “Presented to Hon. S. J. Tilden” and on the other: “By the Democrats of Oakland.” Tilden, Governor of New York, was the Democratic nominee for President in the 1876 election—one of the most contested in U.S. history—winning the popular vote but ultimately losing to Rutherford B. Hayes through a disputed Electoral College decision. The cane’s quartz specimen is almost certainly sourced from California’s Mother Lode region (e.g. Nevada, Amador, or Mariposa County), where high-grade white quartz laced with native gold was cut for jewelry and political presentation pieces. Such material, unique to California, was favored by 19th-century San Francisco jewelers for symbolic gifts to national political figures including Abraham Lincoln and William H. Seward. This piece exemplifies California’s political pride and craftsmanship in the Gilded Age. Length: 36 in. Head: 3 1/2 x 3 in. Provenance: Al and Carol Cali Collection. Pickup & Shipping: Free pickup in Sacramento. Shipping via FedEx within the continental U.S. for $85 + 1.5% insurance (unless waived in writing). Combined lot shipping available. Excellent, light wear to ferrule. Shaft appears to have an old break repair.